Alex leaned over Michael’s desk, glaring at the archangel. Michael gripped the arms of his chair, his face cold and stony.
“I don’t respond to threats or foul language, Alexander. I suggest you retract that last statement. Now.” The room trembled with that final word and Alex slowly straightened, a muscle twitching in his cheek.
“All right. I apologize for the wording…but not the sentiment behind it.”
A moment ticked past and then another before Michael slowly nodded. “I’ll let it go this time. But if you ever burst into my office uninvited again I won’t be nearly as lenient. Take a seat.”
Alex sat, his rage barely under control. “Those bastards are going to abduct Emma and give her to Peter Montrose!”
“That indeed might happen.” Michael inclined his head.
“Might? Michael, I need to know exactly what’s in the cards! If I don’t, how am I going to protect her?”
“‘What’s in the cards.’ An interesting turn of phrase.” Michael leaned back in his chair, elbows on the armrests, fingers steepled in front of him. “Everyone is dealt a hand in life. Some seem to have a guaranteed win; Kings, Queens, Aces. Others have lowly threes and fours on their cards. They seem destined to lose but any skilled card player knows it’s how you and the others at the table use the cards that matters. Any number of factors can affect the outcome.”
“Quit the damned philosophizing.” Alex slouched in his chair.
“It’s true, though. Emma could have died tonight. Her foot slipped. She could have hit her head on the tub causing a brain bleed. Her life would have been over. Should have been over.” He cast a meaningful look at Alex before continuing. “However, you were there, caught her in time and now she’s safe. That lowly three card in her hand became a non-factor…for the second time.”
“Second? Oh, you mean the bullet.”
“Indeed. Twice now you’ve saved her life when the path of fate would have led her elsewhere.”
“But how many other lowly cards does she have?”
Michael ignored his question. “And how many more face cards do you have, Alex? How many are you willing to use to spare her?”
“What?”
“You touched her, Alex.” Michael leaned forward, resting his folded hands on the desk top. “You grabbed her arm. Rubbed her back. Wiped a tear from her face and then held her as she slept. Four contacts despite being told not to allow any to happen. You’re endangering your own existence with this path of action you’ve chosen.”
Alex frowned in momentary consternation, then brushed the incidents aside. “They were brief. No harm was done. I couldn’t even see myself in the mirror.”
“Really? She thought she heard you. Your voice is becoming more audible to her.”
“Then I’ll be careful not to speak around her.” Alex replied tightly, not pleased with the turn the conversation had taken.
“And did you notice the room was steamy? It obscured the view. If she’d stared hard enough, known what to look for, she might have noticed you.”
“But she doesn’t know what to look for.”
“And that was before you comforted her in bed. You’ll be even more visible now.”
“I’ll stick to the shadows. Plus I’m wearing this hoodie.” Silently, he mocked himself over this bit of self-delusion—as if a different style of clothing would prevent Emma from recognizing him. “Being seen is a non-issue. What I need to know—”
“What you need is to be more careful. Both in your actions and in your demands.” Michael fixed a firm look at him. “I’ve been very tolerant of you bursting in here, breaking the rules, making ultimatums. If you’d been assigned Gabriel as a supervisor you’d find yourself pulled from the field so fast your halo would be left behind in the dust.”
Alex compressed his lips, knowing there was some truth in the archangel’s words. Gabriel had an even bigger stick up his ass than Michael.
“Just do your job, Alex. Use Zeke if you need to. He’s chomping at the bit for something to do. And stop making contact with Emma. This case does not require a hands-on approach. Your only purpose is to be with her on her final journey.”
As he opened his mouth to speak, everything suddenly turned dark and then he found himself sitting on a park bench opposite Emma’s apartment building. Alex cast an annoyed glance towards the sky. He hated it when Michael showed off his superior powers like that. Getting to his feet, he dusted the snow from his pants. At least Michael hadn’t set him down in a tree or someone’s backyard pond. That would have been damned cold.
And speaking of cold… Michael’s parting words had set a chill in his heart. ‘Your only purpose is to be with her on her final journey.’ For all his efforts, Emma’s fate remained the same. How could he stand by and let her die? How could he not intervene if he saw her in danger? How could he turn her losing hand into a win? He really didn’t know the answer but he was going to keep trying as long as he was able.
The sun was setting, the streaks of orange and red that stained the sky were slowly being overtaken by the encroaching night. Lights began to appear in the windows of the apartments that lined the street and Christmas trees began to glow as people turned on seasonal decorations. He turned his attention to Emma’s apartment. He’d put Zeke on guard duty again with a stern warning to tell him if she left the building or if anyone suspicious started hanging around. Since he’d heard nothing, he assumed it had been a quiet day. Unless Zeke had messed up again.
As if on cue, Zeke appeared next to him standing ramrod stiff.
“Hi, Alex!”
“Zeke.” Alex bit back a sigh.
“Are you here for my report?”
“Report?”
“On Emma’s activities.”
“Oh. Sure.”
With a flourish, Zeke materialized a clipboard and began to read from the pages on it. “At exactly seven-thirty, Emma woke up. She exited her bed from the left side, went to the bathroom and took a shower. The shower lasted fourteen minutes after which she—”
“Zeke?” Alex prayed for patience. “I don’t need to know every single detail of her day. Just a general overview will do.”
“An overview? Oh. Well, she spent most of the day on the computer.”
“Anything else? Of importance that is.”
Zeke furrowed his brow then shook his head. “No. She was home all day.”
“Good.” Alex gave a nod, pleased that Emma had managed to stay out of harm’s way.
“Good? You really mean that? You think I did good on an assignment?” A wide smile appeared on Zeke’s face.
Alex stared at the young GA. He didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise. “Yeah. You did good.”
“Gee, thanks, Alex. I can’t wait to tell Michael what you said!” With that, Zeke disappeared.
Alex shook his head, thinking Zeke reminded him of an overgrown Labrador puppy. Well, Michael could pat the young angel on the head. He had more pressing matters to deal with.